Russia responded to the U.S. air strikes by suspending memorandum with the U.S. aimed at preventing incidents and ensure flight safety in Syria.

As reported by Censor.NET citing The Independent, the Russian Foreign Ministry said following Donald Trump's decision to fire 59 cruise missiles at a military target in Syria on Thursday, Moscow was suspending a memorandum with the U.S. that prevented incidents and ensured flight safety.

Under the memorandum, signed after Russia launched an air campaign in Syria in September 2015, Russia and the U.S. had exchanged information about their flights to avoid incidents in the crowded skies over Syria - where Russia has several dozen warplanes and batteries of air-defense missiles.

President Vladimir Putin condemned the U.S. strikes on Friday, saying they broke international law and have seriously damaged U.S.-Russia relations.

A statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry reads: "The very presence of U.S. troops and other countries on the territory of Syria, without the consent of the government or the decision of the U.N. Security Council is a gross, obvious and unwarranted violation of international law.

"If before it was due to the task of combating terrorism, now there is a clear act of aggression against a sovereign Syria. U.S. actions taken today further destroy the Russian-American relations."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov meanwhile said Moscow would demand an explanation from the U.S. over the air strikes, describing the attack as "an act of aggression with an invented pretext", and adding that he hoped the "provocation" would not lead to irreparable damage to Russia's ties with the U.S.

The British government has meanwhile said it "fully supports" the U.S. in carrying out the air strike, describing the cruise missile strikes launched from U.S. ships in the Mediterranean as a "warning shot" that was "necessary and appropriate".

As reported, U.S. warships launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian government airbase on President Donald Trump's orders on April 7. U.S. officials said the warplanes that carried out the chemical attacks were based there. The missiles were launched from warships in the Eastern Mediterranean.

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